Angel Falls (Angel Falls Series, #1) by Babette Jongh (an ebook reader TXT) 📕

rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in a single moment of pure joy that I would never forget. “I’ll be good.”

“Ye sure as hell need a keeper.” Ian set me down in knee-deep water. “I might as well be it.”

Shaking with exhaustion, I held onto his hard waist for balance, but slogged the last few feet under my own steam. I figured once the adrenaline had subsided he’d be backpedaling, but I was more than happy to go along and hope for the best. “You’re right, I do need a keeper.” I’d have been whooping with joy if I had enough breath to do it. I settled for patting him on the arm. “If you’re up for the job, you’re hired.”

“We’ll talk about my terms of servitude later.” He grabbed my waist and hoisted me onto a limestone step. “I’ve got to help Ben.”

I scrambled to my knees, and Ian gave me a boost on the rear. “Get up that hill so I don’t have to worry about you.” He turned and slogged back toward Ben and the boys.

“Hey!” Angela stood above me, a big bundle of rope in her hands. She made a quick loop around the bridge rail, tugged on it, then tossed the frayed end down. “Grab on!”

When I finally struggled to the top, she propped me against the hood of her old Volvo station wagon and wrapped me in a towel. “The boys?”

“Ben has them,” I answered through chattering teeth. “Ian’s gone back to help. They’ll be okay.”

“Thank God he showed up right after y’all left.” Angela rubbed my arms with a towel. I was shaking from the cold air that buffeted my wet clothes.

“Where are the girls?”

“I asked Lois to take them to the new house so I could come here in case y’all needed help.” Angela draped the towel around my shoulders, and we walked together to the bridge rail to look down into the canal.

The water had risen another foot in just a few minutes.

“Shit.” Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so confident. Ian was my hero, and Ben was no slouch, either, but they didn’t have superhuman powers.

Angela hugged me tighter. “They’ll get the boys out.”

Just then, Ian rounded the corner with the back of Ray’s shirt clutched in his fist. Ray was swimming at the edge of the canal’s limestone wall, where the current wasn’t as strong. Ian was walking, the water lapping at his armpits. Pretty soon, he’d be swimming, too. Ian gave Ray a push every now and then, but he never let go of Ray’s shirt.

Ben and Jake were right behind them, not quite as close to the limestone wall. “They’re too close to the center,” I worried out loud. If they got caught up in it, they’d miss the steps leading out of the canal and remain trapped within its walls all the way to the river—if they made it that far without drowning.

“They’ll be okay,” Angela said without much conviction. We both knew how treacherous those waters were.

A stick floated past Ben. It bobbed along for a while, then got caught up in a whirlpool and sucked under. Angela clutched my arm and pointed to the group as they progressed towards us. “It’s not as deep where they are now.”

The canal widened and shallowed just before the limestone steps. Ray could stand now.

I held my breath until Ian and Ben hauled the boys to the safety of shallow water.

“Here.” Angela tossed down the rope.

Ian made sure Ray had a good grip then shoved him halfway up the stone slabs. Ray’s soaked tennis shoes slid on the moss-slick limestone, but Angela grabbed his arm and pulled until he stood beside us on the muddy bank. “You’re in a world of trouble, boy,” Angela fussed, giving him a quick fierce hug and wrapping him in a dry towel.

I took the rope from Ray’s cold fingers and tossed it down. Ian caught it, then gave Jake the rope and shoved him up the bank just as he’d done for Ray and me. Ian walked up the steep steps using the rope for balance then tossed it down to Ben.

I met Ian at the canal’s edge, wrapped my arms around his waist, and hugged, hard.

He slumped against me. His exhaustion twitched in muscles pushed past endurance.

I held him close, our clammy T-shirts and jeans clinging together. He shivered, and I held him tighter, sharing what little warmth I had. “I have an idea,” I whispered in his ear. “Let’s go home and see who can get naked fastest.”

Ian gave a weak laugh and brushed a lock of dripping hair away from my shoulder. “Lass, you’ve got a deal.”

Somebody handed Ian a towel. He pulled out of my embrace to dry his hair and swipe at his saturated clothing. Ben brought Jake close, one hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got something to say to your Aunt Casey?”

Jake hung his head and nodded without looking me in the face. “I’m sorry I disobeyed you, Aunt Casey. I won’t do it again.”

I hugged him, both of us shivering. “I accept your apology.”

Ben gave me a brief hug, then shook Ian’s hand. “Thank you for going down there to get the boys.”

“You’re welcome.”

Angela hugged Ian, then me. “Thanks for saving my hard-headed son.” The sullen skies hurled a gust of cold raindrops at us. “We’d all better go home and get dry.”

I patted my pockets—my car keys were gone. “Shit. I’ve lost my keys.”

Ian put an arm around my shoulders. “We’ll deal with that tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to let you out of my sight anyway.” We walked hip-to-hip toward his car. Once inside, Ian started the engine and turned on the heater.

I held my hands up to the vents. “You came home early. I wasn’t expecting you till late tonight.”

“I missed you.” He backed the car out.

I latched onto whatever brain cells I could still claim. “Have you spoken to Bianca?”

“Umm-hmmm.”

He kept his eyes on the rain-slick road to my house. After